In 2006 I was running three businesses and about to add a fourth.
I owned an online vegan parenting magazine.
I ran a web development company with 25 active clients.
I owned an independent publishing company with two books already selling.
And in January of 2006 I decided to start a spirituality blog.
I was married, with two children ages 3 and 6. My plate was ridiculously full.
By June of 2006 I had started doing readings as a professional intuitive. I was booked so solid that I had a 3 month waiting list.
That’s when I started to notice that the quality of my magazine was suffering, clients were waiting a long time for their site updates, and I couldn’t keep up with the demand of shipping my books to distributors.
I would end each 12 hour day so exhausted I could barely stand. My kids started to notice that Mommy was too busy for simple things like bedtime stories or more than 30-second tuckings.
The only thing that was really going well was my income. Before doing readings I was making $5,000 a month regularly on the other three businesses. Once I added the readings, I started earning $10,000 a month. I have to admit it was really nice. I’d never broken the $5k/month threshold after 10 years of working.
But I was overwhelmed and the quality of my life started to suffer. So I made the decision to begin transitioning out of the old three businesses so I could give myself fully to the new one. I knew it would result in a short term loss of income, but hoped that with the extra time I had, I could nurture my professional intuitive business to the point where I’d make up the loss of income.
The first thing I did was tell my 25 web clients to find someone new. That was really hard. I loved my clients and had been helping them grow their online businesses for years.
Then I found a buyer for my vegan parenting magazine. The right person came along at just the right time and for exactly the price I wanted.
I shut down the publishing company, turned the books into ebooks, and sold them online only. No more printing, packing, shipping, tracking invoices, etc.
As expected, my income tumbled, right back to $5k a month. But I felt fantastic! I caught up on the backlog of readings, and got fully immersed into my professional intuitive business. With my new time and energy, I came up with more productive ways of working.
It only took 6 months to double my monthly income back to $10k/month. From there it continued to grow, taking another huge leap recently after I added reading options people really liked and that worked just as well for me.
I read for a lot of people who are stuck in a career they’re tired of. You absolutely can transition yourself out of something old and into something new, but you’ve got to be smart about it.
First, clearly identify the new career path you want. Make sure it’s something you love, that you’re good at, and that will provide value to others. I made sure the professional intuitive business was something I loved doing and that there was a high demand for my services before even thinking about shutting down the other businesses.
Second, get whatever training, education, or certifications that will allow you to be a highly trained professional in your new career. Don’t cut off your income and then go back to school, unless you’ve got 6 years worth of savings you can live off of. Your stress will kill your productivity. I made sure I trained myself to expert level in a short period of time by doing more than a hundred practice readings before charging for my intuitive services.
Third, carve out time for your new career. For a short while you might be working during the day and then going to your other job or school at night or on weekends. Deal with it. You’re going to be tired, but you’re planting seeds that will bear fruit soon enough. For more than a year I was working 12-16 hour days to run all 4 businesses.
And lastly, before you quit your job or shut down an old business, make sure the new one is producing consistently and that you’re earning enough money to support yourself and/or your family. Even though I was tired, making $10,000 a month allowed me to put money into the bank to coast on when I dropped my other businesses.
A lot of people are so desperate to leave their current jobs that they quit immediately and then try to build up a new business on their own, or pound the pavement looking for a job. You’re totally free to do that, but I know so many people who fail because their savings run out before they’re firmly established in the new business.
Be smart about your transition and it will serve you well. In a short period of time you can slough off the old, stale career and start reaping the joys of your new path.
**If you want specific guidance on your career transition, with practical steps from your guides, book a reading with me and get a plan for making a successful transition as soon as possible.
